Much interest has arisen in recent years in the development of medical infusion pumps capable of relatively continuous operation and also in the development of infusion pumps having the ability to administer precisely controlled volumes of fluid at preselected intervals. Unlike the case with a parenteral fluid administration apparatus, which typically operates by gravity flow from a relatively large reservoir of fluid, medication infusion generally involves administration of small dosages so as to achieve a prescribed optimum level of medication in the bloodstream of the patient. Due to differences in the rates of metabolism of, or elimination of, various medicines, the attainment of precise bloodstream medication levels is usually achieved by the periodic administration of a dosage of medication, where determination of the precise dosage and the correct interval between doses will depend on the particular medication involved as well as criteria peculiar to the patient. Such repeated administration of medicines can be difficult to achieve because of erratic communications with, or supervening demands, on hospital nursing staff; moreover repeatedly giving a patient injections can be traumatic. Thus emphasis has grown on developing versatile medical infusion pumps to automatically administer a sustained sequence or rate of infusions. Pumps of several types are known in the prior art. One species of pump involves rather massive mechanical elements for the pump and dosage setting device so as to give the very precisely controlled sequence of high pressure infusions necessary for radiography. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,701,345 and 3,812,843, among others.
Another, general purpose, species of pump utilizes a motor or clock drive to power a pushing mechanism, using a leadscrew or rack, for moving a plunger arrangement. Examples of such devices are my medication injection device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,581, or that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,110. Such devices are more compact and are reasonably well adapted for use as bedside periodic infusion devices in a hospital setting. However these devices tend to be somewhat bulky and, for this reason, are less than optimal for use on an ambulatory patient. Each of the prior art devices also suffers from a looseness in its mechanical drive components which requires close attention when setting up the initial pumping operation to ensure that the device actually pumps a full dose during the first duty cycle of its activation. Additionally each of the prior art devices has a rather complex mechanical structure, introducing significant inertial and frictional factors affecting the ease and cost of maintaining the units in reliable operating condition over extended times, and making them unsuitable for battery powered operation.